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Metabolic Diversity

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Encyclopedia of Astrobiology

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Definition

Metabolic diversity mainly refers to the different metabolic strategies that organisms have evolved to obtain energy. Metabolic pathways evolved among prokaryotes before eukaryotes arose as the result of their interaction and coevolution with changing physicochemical environmental conditions. Metabolic diversity is life’s evolutive response enabling it to adapt to and use all available energy and organic and inorganic matter sources. Life, as we know it, follows common nutritional patterns that can be subdivided depending on energy or carbon requirements. Organisms can be classified according to their energy requirements as phototrophs, if energy comes from solar radiation, or chemotrophs, if the energy source is inorganic (chemolithotroph) or organic (chemoorganotroph) reduced compounds. According to the mechanism used, they can be classified as photosynthetic (oxygenic and anoxygenic), respirers (aerobic and anaerobic), and fermentors. Depending on the carbon source,...

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centro de Astrobiología (CSIC/INTA), Instituto Nacional de Técnica Aeroespacial, Ctra de Torrejón a Ajalvir, km 4, 28850, Torrejón de Ardoz, Madrid, Spain

    Felipe Gomez

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  1. Felipe Gomez
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Correspondence to Felipe Gomez .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Centro de Biología Molecular, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain

    Ricardo Amils

  2. Labo. d'Astrophysique de Bordeaux (LAB), Observatoire Aquitain des Sciences de l'Univers (OASU), Floirac CX, France

    Muriel Gargaud

  3. Centro de Astrobiología (CAB), Inst. Nacional de Técnica Aeroespacial, Torrejón de Ardoz, Madrid, Spain

    José Cernicharo Quintanilla

  4. Geophysical Lab., Carnegie Institution of Washington, Washington, District of Columbia, USA

    Henderson James Cleaves

  5. Astronomy Department, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts, USA

    William M. Irvine

  6. Dépt. Sc. de la Terre et de l’Atmosphère, Université du Québec, Montréal, Montreal, Québec, Canada

    Daniele Pinti

  7. Centre National d'Etudes Spatiale (CNES) DPI/E2U, Paris CX, France

    Michel Viso

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© 2014 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Gomez, F. (2014). Metabolic Diversity. In: Amils, R., et al. Encyclopedia of Astrobiology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27833-4_961-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27833-4_961-2

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-27833-4

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Physics and AstronomyReference Module Physical and Materials ScienceReference Module Chemistry, Materials and Physics

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